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Heartland Community Challenge promotes finding new commuter options

Metro Transit and the Metropolitan Area Planning Agency are challenging local businesses and students to try a different way of commuting in the month of August.

Updated: 5:38 PM CDT Aug 1, 2013

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Heartland Community Challenge promotes finding new commuter options

Metro Transit and the Metropolitan Area Planning Agency are challenging local businesses and students to try a different way of commuting in the month of August.

Updated: 5:38 PM CDT Aug 1, 2013

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Heartland Community Challenge promotes finding new commuter options

Metro Transit and the Metropolitan Area Planning Agency are challenging local businesses and students to try a different way of commuting in the month of August.

Updated: 5:38 PM CDT Aug 1, 2013

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WEBVTT RIGHT NOW: THE CHALLENGE...IS áON. THIS MONTH, METRO TRANSIT..AND THE METROPOLITAN AREA PLANNING AGENCY..ARE CHALLENGING LOCAL BUSINESSES..AND STUDENTS..TO TRY A áDIFFERENT WAY OF COMMUTING. AND IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT TAKING THE BUS TO WORK. MAPA AND METRO ARE ASKING YOU TO CAR POOL..RIDE A BICYCLE..OR EVEN WALK TO WORK. KETV NW7'S TODD ANDREWS IS LIVE ON A BUS WITH MORE..ON THE HEARTLAND COMMUTER CHALLENGE.( AD LIB ) IT'S OFFICIALLY STARTING -- TODAY. IT'S ALL ABOUT INCREASING AWARENESS OF MASS TRANSIT. THE QUESTION OF WHY DRIVE TO WORK( NATS: traffic ) WHEN YOU CAN RIDE THE BUS( NATS: bus ) TAKES ON A NEW MEANING THIS MONTH NOW..PEOPLE WHO KNOW THE METRO BUS SYSTEM WELL--LIKE NORMAN KRAUS( Norman Kraus / on bus: " It's convenient " ) WILL BE JOINED BY HUNDREDS MORE..WHO ARE NEW TO IT THEY'RE PLEDGING TO STEP ON BOARD( NATS: swiping pass in card reader ) OR USE A DIFFERENT ALTERNATIVE METHOD..TO GET TO WORK IT'S A FRIENDLY COMPETITION..THAT'S A PARTNERSHIP OF METRO..AND MAPA ( Courtney Allen / MAPA: " We started the heartland community challenge to try to introduce them to several commuting options " ) THE EVENT IS IN ITS 2ND YEAR -- AND METRO OFFICIALS SAY..WITH 32 BUSINESSES ALREADY SIGNED UP, THEY'RE EXPECTING MORE PARTICIPANTS..AND TRIPS TAKEN..THIS TIME ROUND( Allen: " We've been getting a lot of support " ) PRIZES WILL BE AWARDED AT THE INDIVIDUAL AND CORPORATE LEVELS TO THOSE WHO LOG THE MOST MILES..AND TRIPS WITH 134 BUSES..AND A ROUTE SYSTEM COVERING THE METRO AREA..OFFICIALS SAY THERE ARE PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITIES TO WIN -- PLUS..HELP THEM ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS OF REDUCING TRAFFIC CONGESTION..PROMOTING HEALTHY LIFESTYLES..AND INCREASING AWARENESS( Lauren Cencic / Metro: " We are continually looking at ways to improve our system " ) MAPA OFFICIALS TELL US 4.2 MILLION TRIPS WERE LOGGED ON METRO BUSES IN 2012--A STATISTIC THAT'S EXPECTED TO RISE THIS YEAR, THANKS TO WHAT THEY FRAME AS INCREASING MOMENTUM..TOWARD MASS TRANSIT( Lauren Cencic: " We're starting to have a number of groups that see public transportation as a viable option for commuting to work " ) ONCE MORE: IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT TAKING THE BUS. THERE ARE ALSO CATEGORIES FOR CAR POOLING..RIDING A BICYCLE..OR WALKING TO WORK. REPORTING LIVE..TAN NW7